As each panel goes up on the house it’s hard to resist the urge to take a quick peak in the house to see the effect that is created.
This vintage timber frame is quickly converted from the look of an old barn into a dramatic home. It appears as if rooms, one-by-one, suddenly come into existence.
Homeowners are often blown away when they visit the site at the end of a day after we have been putting up these panels.
Originally posted 2015-04-16 14:25:22.
One by one by we covered the rebuilt Sugar Hollow timber frame with stress-skin panels.
The best way to describe these panels is by comparing them to ice cream sandwiches… the white center core is made of a high R-value foam, the inside layer is drywall which gives the interior a finished wall, and the exterior is some kind of laminated wood product which provides strength and a nailing surface for the upcoming siding.
There are builders who will build homes entirely out of stress skin panels. I haven’t tried that yet, but it does demonstrate the potential application of these products. So, by adding these panels to a home that is already strong we create a house that is two to three times the strength of any modern home.
I like everything about these panels except the fact that they “fatten up” old timber frames… adding nearly a foot and a half to the width of the house… but, if we want to see the antique timber frame on the inside, it’s a price that has to be paid.
Originally posted 2015-04-16 14:13:33.
We put a new roof on top of the antique timber-frame that we built in Sugar Hollow.
I have found that old roof systems often have their share of “issues”.
For one thing, there always seems to be a few rafters that are unusable… either rotten or broken due to rain getting in or perhaps a tree landing on the roof. So, it’s rare to have a complete set.
And, I have found that rafters are often “baked’. I guess having spent a couple centuries in an attic that that would be expected. They feel “dried out”, light as balsa wood, and their ability to hold a tight grip onto a nail has severely diminished.
I have always been impressed with the excessive over-build in old houses. The floor joists, bracing, and walls in these antique treasures are often two to three times the size that they need to be, but for some reason the rafters on old houses appear to be too small.
I once took down an old workshop that had 24 foot long rafters on it, that were only 2by4’s, with a low pitched roof, and it had a slate roof on it! Amazing… but it had stood for nearly a hundred years.
Maybe it’s just me, but I like knowing that I have a very strong roof. I’ve never used pre-made roof trusses, preferring to hand pick the individual rafters myself.
My clients have never had a roof problem, nor will their children, nor their grandchildren, nor their great-grandchildren. I guess you get my point… when you build… build it so that it will outlast you.
Originally posted 2015-04-15 12:05:03.
The life a stonemason… part 3
Eventually all those carpenter bees leave and peace once again returns to the mason’s life as he returns to his stonework.
And they all lived happily ever after.
The end.
Originally posted 2015-04-15 11:13:17.
No one can make a stone mason more miserable than a carpenter. With their loud saws they often encroach about the mason, often driving him off and even endangering his life by working overhead.
Originally posted 2015-04-15 11:02:38.
The life of a stone mason… part 1
A stone mason is happiest when he has a stone that he can chip away at until it suits him. He loves to swing his hammer, and to hold his chisel, and to see the stone conform to his vision.
Now if you give that mason a huge pile of really nice stone, you know, one’s that will shape well, one’s that have existing corners and one’s in which many of the stones are already rectangular in shape, well, you just might find that mason whistling an Irish tune on occasion.
If you want to make him even happier, throw in a helper, one that will mix his cement, and sort his stones into neat little piles… all is now right with the world. At lunch he might break out his corn cob pipe and tell you a story about his younger days.
But on the other hand… (to be continued)…
Originally posted 2015-04-14 21:47:11.
Twenty-five years ago today I helped a precious family create a lasting legacy.
On that day, April 14,1990 each member of this family placed the palms of their hands into a fresh cement chink joint of the log cabin that I was then re-erecting for them.
Those hand-prints are still there today as perfect as they were the day they were made, and as they will likely be in the decades, and perhaps centuries, to come.
And, those hand-prints have been published in multiple magazines and books along with the rest of this beautiful log home. In fact this famous chink joint made the cover of one of those books… Hands-on Log Cabins by Cindy Thiede.
I remember that day clearly, it was a Saturday and I drove over to the cabin to accomplish this one mission. We had picked one of the widest chink joints in the home to ensure room for everyone’s hand.
Now the thing about chink joints is that the wider they are, the heavier they are, and the heavier they are, the more likely they are to fall off of the wall while still wet.
I have lost a few fresh chink joints over the years just by someone slamming a door shortly after the cement had been applied. 🙁
I carefully applied this wide chink joint while the family of five watched on. We all know how much more challenging it is to do something when each move we make is under observation don’t we? 😉
The family was clearly excited, I was inwardly stressed. After all, I didn’t know if this could be done.
The chinking went up perfectly.
I was very proud, and relieved.
I’m not certain which hand it was that brought that cement chinking crashing to the floor.
As I had feared, the act of pressing a hand into vertical cement was not perhaps the best thing to do, and the act of pulling the hand back out proved to be destructive.
I don’t remember how many times I applied that one chink joint that day… three or four times is my best guess. Maybe, it was more.
But it was SO worth it.
That moment was frozen in time not only that family but for me. Who else can claim that they remember what they were doing twenty-five years ago today?
And that chink joint… well… it still lives on today, and it still touches everyone’s heart that sees it.
Originally posted 2015-04-14 13:53:29.
Here’s a great set of photos showing the real life process of setting a top plate…
The first one shows the challenge of aligning all the tenons of the posts as the plate is lowered into place.
The second image shows the foreman stepping in and pointing out the problem…
The then this photo reveals how man has been solving all his problems since creation… “just hit it with a hammer”… in this case a very big hammer…
Finally, pegs are driven into place, locking the building together for the centuries to come…
Originally posted 2015-04-13 14:45:41.
With the aid of a crane all the second floor joists floated down onto the frame.
As each was locked into place this home grew more and more stable… any sign of movement disappeared. She became “solid as a rock”.
I’m always torn with the use of a crane. For certain they require less physical effort on the individuals who build these homes. So, there is that.
But there is also something lost… for one thing… silence. A diesel engine runs constantly. Everything else is drowned out. There is no conversation, no sound of masons striking their chisels, no birds signing in the background.
And the focus of the work becomes the crane… it must be fed. Men become servants of the machine. All attention is given to getting the job done, there is no time for savoring the now… enjoying the moment… or seizing the day.
Originally posted 2015-04-13 14:29:44.
After the top plates were set on the front and back of the Sugar Hollow House, then we set the end plates…
Originally posted 2015-04-13 13:39:12.
